Weird indeed, and needs to be investigated. Have you done a few resets and 
power-cycles just to be sure ?

Any chance you are using revision-control with your source-code ? Sometimes 
there are other changes you made, but forgot. I know it sounds stupid, but 
I've done it many times myself and the evidence was right there, thanks to 
git (or whatever source-control you use).

Years ago, I have also seen bugs in CAD tools. Anyone here remember CUPL ? 
It was a tool used for generating PLA code from logic equations. Sometimes 
as you got close to filling-up the device, the tool would report you ran 
out of logic elements. But, if you were lucky, simply re-arranging lines of 
code got it to fit-in. It seems unlikely that Teensy would have this 
problem, but you never know.

On Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 10:19:05 AM UTC-7 Max DN wrote:

> So, it seems it is now working as expected, although I'm not counting my 
> chickens yet. In the SPI routine from the Teensy to the DAC, I changed the 
> gain for the DAC from two to one, loaded the code, edited the code back to 
> a gain of two in the DAC, loaded it again and voila'. Odd!
>
> It's working as expected. Although I don't understand why!
>
> Il giorno domenica 23 giugno 2024 alle 02:46:09 UTC+1 gregebert ha scritto:
>
>> So another possibility is that one of the amplifiers is clipping, usually 
>> because the input signals are trying to drive the output beyond the supply 
>> rails. BTW, most op-amps are not rail-to-rail, but they can get pretty 
>> close. It will show up quickly on a scope.
>>
>> On Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 3:35:15 PM UTC-7 Dekatron42 wrote:
>>
>>> So what happens if you put this Teensy in the other working board, does 
>>> the error follow the Teensy?
>>>
>>> If so, have you tried to reprogram the Teensy or even erase it to set  
>>> it to its original setup condition?
>>>
>>> /Martin
>>>
>>> On Saturday 22 June 2024 at 22:48:49 UTC+2 Max DN wrote:
>>>
>>>> @Martin, if I try to bypass the DAC using POTs for NEG5 and POS5 it all 
>>>> seems fine (the dot goes across the whole X axis and Y axis).
>>>> @gregebert, no Z-axis.
>>>>
>>>> I am probing X and Y just out of the DAC and not connected to anything 
>>>> else. I can see the image on the oscilloscope as a full round circle, but 
>>>> as I try to center it to what would be the center of the CRT then thr 
>>>> circle flatlines. 
>>>>
>>>> It feels as though past a certain point on the vertical axis, the dots 
>>>> are just collapsing into the same line and cannot go past (on one end of 
>>>> the Y vertical axis, X axis is fine).
>>>>
>>>> Very odd as I have already used same code and same pcb for another 
>>>> scope clock. After 10 hours on it today, I'm going to let go until I have 
>>>> any other ideas. I have tried replacing the processor, the DAC (3 times), 
>>>> checked all resistors and bypass caps and triple checked all soldering 
>>>> points. Maybe it's time to bin this pcb, but I do like a challenge!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Il giorno sabato 22 giugno 2024 alle 16:38:19 UTC+1 gregebert ha 
>>>> scritto:
>>>>
>>>>> Is there a Z-axis ??? That would be my first suspect; if the trace is 
>>>>> still visible, then the appropriate grid needs to be driven a bit more 
>>>>> negative.
>>>>>
>>>>> If the CRT uses rapid movement for dark (technically dim) regions, and 
>>>>> slower movement for bright regions, then my best guess is some kind of 
>>>>> software tweak would be needed to get the beam to move faster, or off the 
>>>>> phosphor-coated area (or both).
>>>>>
>>>>> On Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 3:49:04 AM UTC-7 Dekatron42 wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Can you remove the processor and feed the amplifiers directly from a 
>>>>>> potentiometer connected to NEG5 and POS5 and see how the dot moves on 
>>>>>> the 
>>>>>> screen? You need one potentiometer for X & Y so that the dot will appear 
>>>>>> on 
>>>>>> screen. This way you will test out the amplifier chains without the DAC 
>>>>>> involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /Martin
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Saturday 22 June 2024 at 12:10:54 UTC+2 Max DN wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Martin, that's what I am thinking... however I don't think it's the 
>>>>>>> amplifier chain as I get the same issue if I just display X and Y 
>>>>>>> signals 
>>>>>>> straight out of the DAC on the oscilloscope. That brings it down to a 
>>>>>>> few 
>>>>>>> components only: 2 potentiometers for centerting X and Y, their two 
>>>>>>> bypass 
>>>>>>> capacitors, the DAC and its 1 bypass capacitors, the +3.3V Linear 
>>>>>>> regulator, the +5V supply to the DAC. I'm going to try and replace 
>>>>>>> everything once more by one by one... Not the smartest way of doing it 
>>>>>>> but 
>>>>>>> let's see what it brings...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Il giorno sabato 22 giugno 2024 alle 11:01:12 UTC+1 Dekatron42 ha 
>>>>>>> scritto:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Could it be the that any of the power lines sags as the signal 
>>>>>>>> tries to increase to the right (in the picture right where the line 
>>>>>>>> is) or 
>>>>>>>> that any of the resistors in the amplifier chain has an incorrect 
>>>>>>>> value?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> /Martin
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Saturday 22 June 2024 at 11:32:21 UTC+2 Max DN wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Tried to replace a few more parts, including potentiometers for 
>>>>>>>>> Focus and Intensity, made no difference. So, back to basics: using an 
>>>>>>>>> oscilloscope I see that the X and Y signals straight out of the DAC 
>>>>>>>>> look 
>>>>>>>>> exactly the same as in the picture I had attached. Maybe a faulty 
>>>>>>>>> DAC? 
>>>>>>>>> Tried to replace the DAC twice with new ones and made no difference. 
>>>>>>>>> Looks 
>>>>>>>>> like I'm hitting some sort of physical limits... More debugging to 
>>>>>>>>> do...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Il giorno venerdì 21 giugno 2024 alle 18:31:51 UTC+1 Max DN ha 
>>>>>>>>> scritto:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I'm building a scope clock, same board as another one I built 
>>>>>>>>>> before with no issues (after some help I got on this group, thank 
>>>>>>>>>> you!) and 
>>>>>>>>>> I'm getting a flat line on the display.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I have tried replacing the CRT, the DAC, the Op Amps and the 
>>>>>>>>>> MPSW42 deflection amplifiers but made no difference. CRT is 3RP1A. 
>>>>>>>>>> Code and 
>>>>>>>>>> circuitry have been fully tested on another working board.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I do recall having a similar issue before with a DH3/91 CRT and I 
>>>>>>>>>> seem to recall that I just needed to adjust the pot for Astigmatism 
>>>>>>>>>> that 
>>>>>>>>>> controls the voltage on A2. Schematics as in here:  
>>>>>>>>>> http://www.cathodecorner.com/sctv/sctv-schem-2.png
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I'm a bit at a loss here, although I'm sure it's something simple 
>>>>>>>>>> that I'm missing.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Pic attached.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Any suggestions welcome,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Max
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>

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